


Ring pops make great engagement rings

by Jamjamsfics



Series: the "Out of The Ashes of a Hungry Fire" universe [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Cute Kids, First Crush, First Meetings, Fluff, Kindergarten, Love at First Sight, M/M, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, play engagement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22189828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamjamsfics/pseuds/Jamjamsfics
Summary: Richie and Eddie first meet at recess in kindergarten when they both have to sit inside for different reasons. they become fast friends, get into some trouble, and eventually, Richie decides a ring pop would be a great engagement ring for Eddie.cute little kids, not yet soiled by the harsh realities of the real world. play engagements and cute first crush fluff.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: the "Out of The Ashes of a Hungry Fire" universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542163
Comments: 10
Kudos: 107





	1. first impressions are everything

**Author's Note:**

> here it is!! 10,000 hits milestone fic the first volume of the main fic in this series, out of the ashes of a hungry fire. you do not have to read that fic to read this one! just cute child fluff.
> 
> this is canon in the hungry fire universe and is mentioned in both volume 1 and volume 2.
> 
> this has 2 chapters! it was supposed to be a one-shot but i ran out of time lol. work has been beating my butt lately.

** January 13 ** ** th ** ** , 1980 **

It was a cold winter day in the town of Derry, Maine. The local preschool kids were on their recess break, clad in winter coats and scarves as they played in the falling snow. Eddie  Kaspbrak wasn’t allowed to play outside during snowy weather. His mother made the school keep him inside in the safety of the classroom, worried that, if he were to go outside in the snow despite the bulk amount of  cloths she forced him to wear, he could come down with some serious illness, such as pneumonia or the flue. The poor 5-year-old boy sat alone at his desk, arms crossed as he watched out the window at the other kids having fun, as if like watching animals at the zoo behind protective glass. Eddie didn’t have any friends, so it wasn’t like he was missing out on any fun. He didn’t mind not being  all o wed to play outside on snowy days, honestly. He would just be swinging by himself and cold as hell. In here, he could sit in the warm, quiet classroom. Watch the kids play, maybe doodle on some paper, get lost in thought. It was kind of nice.

Today was a bit different, however. Eddie’s alone time was interrupted when the door to the playground opened. Suddenly the muffled children beyond the glass got louder and then muffled again as the door opened and shut. 

Without moving his head, Eddie glanced over toward the door to see who had entered. It was their teacher, Mrs. Baker, and one of the kids, though he couldn’t quite place his name. 

The kid had curly black hair and wore large  rimed glasses. His face was covered in dark freckles and he wore a large parka with a red scarf. He was being escorted inside, and Mrs. Baker didn’t look happy. The kid’s head was down and hands in his pockets as she walked him over toward his assigned desk. The name tag on the desk read ‘Richie’.

“common I didn’t mean it-!”

“ I don’t want to hear it, Richard. Just sit down and think about what you’ve done.” Mrs. Baker grumbled as she walked back to the door and outside. The kid, now  know as ‘Richie’, grunted and crossed his arms, slumping down in his seat. _ What did this kid do? _ Eddie questioned as he glanced over toward Richie. He remembered seeing this kid in class. Their class was big, so he didn’t recognize everyone, but he vaguely recognized him. They had never communicated, though. He didn’t talk to many people. Still, he sat there staring, wondering what had happened outside. 

He must have been staring for a weirdly long time, because Richie glanced over with a raised brow. “ uuh ... hi?”

Eddie’s voice seemed to leave his body. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything back and just quickly looked away and down at his hands clamped on his desk. A few more seconds passed before Richie spoke again.

“not ....going to say hi back?” he could tell he was making everything worse by staying quiet. He could tell Richie was starting to get weirded out by him, so he forced himself to at least say  _ something. _

“h-hi.”

Unknown to Eddie since he still had his gaze fixed strictly on his hands, Richie gave a small grin. He  kinda liked this kid. He couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason, but he liked him. He wanted to get to know him some more! 

Richie got up from his desk and made his way over to where Eddie sat. Hearing the footsteps get louder and louder made  Eddie nervous. He was so used to older kids bullying him and no one really showing any real interest in him that he was sure this kid was going to beat him up. And what  _ happened  _ outside?  _ Did _ he beat someone up? Was  he a bully? Was Eddie  this kid’s next victim? If he came home with a black eye again, that was it. His mom would surely pull him out of public school and home school him .

But Eddie wasn’t grabbed forcefully, or hit, or called names. Richie pulled up a seat at the desk beside him and smiled, turning his body to face Eddie. He held out a hand and Eddie did jump out of instinct. “my name’s Richie Tozier. What's yours?”

Eddie blinked rapidly at the outstretched hand in front of him . un focusing his gaze off of his hands, he instead focused them on Richie’s hand before reaching cautiously and shaking it. “um....E-Eddie. Eddie  Kasbak .” Eddie had issues with saying his last name. He was only five, after all. 

“Kasbak?”

“k-kas.... kasp ...mrr...” he groaned and pointed to his name plate on his desk and Richie nodded.

“okay, Eddie kaspeck, it’s nice to meet you. let’s be friends. What do ya say?” 

Friends? Someone wanted to be his  _ friend _ ? That didn’t happen. Like, at all. People didn’t just ..... ask to be Eddie’s friend. Eddie had no idea how to answer. “ ....yes ?” was all he could muster up to say, and honestly, he felt kind of dumb for just saying ‘yes’. 

Richie didn’t seem to mind, though. He seemed to be very happy, in fact. His smile was wide and his eyes shined bright. “cool! New friend! Uh....why are you inside, though?” he asked, a bit confused, looking from Eddie to the kids playing outside. “I mean...... I know why  _ I  _ am, but ..... you don’t look like a kid who would get in trouble often.” 

What was that supposed to mean? Well....he wasn’t  _ wrong _ , but still, it felt a bit....insulting. Eddie made a scrunched face and crossed his arms. “well  _ excuse me _ , but I can get in trouble if I  wanna !” Eddie had no idea what he was doing, but he couldn’t stop himself. He felt obligated to prove this kid wrong!

“oh yeah?” Richie’s grin seemed to get bigger. “prove it.”

“p-prove it?” he knew where this was going. He was going to be dared to do something bad in order to get in trouble. Then he’ll have after school detention, and his mom would kill him! So why was it so hard to just say ‘no’? “okay, prove it how?”

Richie hummed, looking around the room, as if trying to find inspiration. Eyes landing on a pack of gum on the teacher’s desk, light bulbs went off and he grinned. “put gum in Beverley’s hair.” he gestured to the gum packet and Eddie’s eyes went wide.

“put gum in—no!” he was finally able to protest to Richie’s nonsense, crossing his arms. This only made Richie grin more. 

“no? Aw, common, it’s the lowest offence! Just stick it in the  _ ends _ of her hair, that way she doesn't have to like....shave.” he nodded. he thought that if it wasn’t too harsh, the punishment wouldn’t be as severe. 

Eddie’s protests didn’t last too long. What was it about this kid that made him want to go against everything he knows to be morally right? “mm....” he groaned,  biting his lip and fidgeting for a moment before getting out of his seat and heading over to the teacher’s desk, grabbing the box of gum and popping one in his mouth. He chewed the stick for a moment, getting it soggy and sticky, then put it back in the foil and headed back to his desk, plopping down. “ ..... this is a bad idea.”

Richie snorted out a laugh, leaning over to pat Eddie on the shoulder. “relax, it’ll be fine.”

\------------------------------------------------------------

It was, indeed, _not_ fine. Eddie got in trouble immediately, and sentenced to after school detention. In a last-ditch effort to save his ass, he pointed out Richie, who was innocently at his desk, snickering into his hands, and told the teacher _he_ put him up to it! 

That didn’t help at all. It just put the two of them in after school, alone, awkwardly staring at the wall while their teacher read the newspaper. 

Over the intercom, the principle spoke. He sounded annoyed. “Ms. Baker, Sonia Kasp b rak is demanding to speak to you.”

“oh  nooo ....” Eddie groaned, head in his  hands .

Ms. Baker sighed and got out of her chair. “alright. I'll be  right there.” she walked  passed the two before turning to them. “you two! No carrying on while I'm gone, got it?” 

Once she left, Richie spoke up after a few seconds. “your mom?” Eddie didn’t respond. “ ....not talking to me, huh?” 

“it’s your fault  I' m here in the first place....” he mumbled, not removing his face from his hands. “now mommy’s going to be mad ..... ”

Richie frowned. He did feel bad, this kid obviously had never done anything bad his entire life. Richie was used to getting in trouble. Getting spanked, grounded, yelled at ....but Eddie was obviously scared. “you’ve never been in trouble, have you?” Eddie shook his head and Richie sighed, turning in his seat to face him. “look, I'll make it up to you.”

Eddie slowly turned his head to look at him. “....make it up to me?”

He nodded. “ mmmhm ...~ I'll take the wrap for everything. I can handle it, trust me. Maybe.....taking the blame off of you will help a little.” he’d hope so, anyway. He'd hate to ruin this  brand new relationship right out the gate. 

Eddie pursed his lips, thinking for a second before  nodding. “okay. That could work. You have a deal.” Richie and Eddie shook on it, sealing the deal. 

\-----------------------------------------

Richie’s deal went along as smooth as it possibly could go. Having a talk with the teacher, telling her it was all his fault and Eddie shouldn’t be to blame got Eddie off on a warning and he was sent home for the evening much earlier than supposed to. Though, that didn’t stop his mom from hassling him about the incident. You know you can’t have  gum, it can make you choke and die! Don't touch other children’s hair, Eddie, you have no idea how many germs could be on their head, and you could get lice! It was mostly yelling about bad things that could have happened to Eddie because of this and not so much the a c t its self. But it still sucked all the same.

Despite their bad first impressions, little Eddie found himself thinking about Richie that night. Why did this kid want to be his friend? Why would he take the complete blame for this? He couldn’t lie, he was very happy. Maybe this could be the start of a great friendship. 


	2. that's how love works

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> super short last chapter, eddie and Richie are fast friends and they come to the same conclution about their feelings.

At that point and after, Richie and Eddie became fast friends. Despite the fact that their first encounter was tainted by Richie’s bad-boy behavior and Eddie’s need to, for some reason, show this random kid he had what it took to be just as much of a bad boy, they still were able to look past all that and accept each other as friends. Eddie’s first friend. And with this one came two more. A package  deal ! Not only did he have Richie to play with, but he also had Bill and Stanley. 

They'd pass notes in class, mostly just chicken scratch and barely legible spelling mistakes, but being kids, they understood each other perfectly and found themselves giggling under their fingers at the silly jokes. Richie would write something like, “ techers but is big” with a drawing of an upside-down heart, prompting giggles from the group and Bill would add a cloud under the heart, prompting even more giggles. Almost anything would make them laugh, from the word toast to an actual joke. Thankfully, they were discreet enough that the teacher never caught on. Either that or she just didn’t care enough to bother wasting her breath. Kids will be kids.

Recess was still a no-go for Eddie in the winter months, or at least on snowy days which, where they lived so far north, it was almost always snowy 90% of the time during the winter. being inside during recess used to be relaxing and a time to imagine and do homework, but now it was torture. He wanted to be with his friends! He watched them through the glass sadly, waving to them when they’d come up to the window. They'd write small messages in the glass to him on occasion. “its so cold”, “wish yu culd be with us”, ect. They'd try to make Eddie laugh with funny drawings, but he’d only giggle a little. He really wanted to play, too. 

Despite not being able to play outside very often, or at all, Eddie and his friends were able to hang out quite a bit after school. They'd go over to each other’s houses, and even though they were restricted with Eddie’s mom breathing down everyone’s necks, they still managed to have a lot of fun. They built pillow forts, played pretend, played board games like  shoots and ladders (with an adult’s help with counting since they were still only five). Eddie found himself really enjoying the company of these three friends, but he seemed to enjoy it, even more, when it was just him and Richie, and Richie felt the same. 

Richie, being  the innocent child he was with little knowledge of love, was admittedly confused at first. Why did his heart seem to fly away when Eddie was near? Why did his stomach turn and grumble? Why did he seem to be at his happiest when alone with Eddie? He would find his answer while sitting in the  living room with his mom one night. It was a rare night she let him stay up with her,  and she was watching a soap opera. For the most part, it was weird and Richie didn’t get it, but then a scene clicked.

It was the main couple. They were talking about love and how love made them feel, and everything they said Richie felt the same way about Eddie. Then one of them proposed to the other and Richie knew exactly what this was. 

He was  _ in love _ with Eddie. And people who are  _ in love  _ get  _ married _ . He had to propose to Eddie!

\---------------------------------------------

The cold months started to fade, and the snow finally let up. Eddie was off his ban from the outside world, and he could experience the  playground for the first time! Unfortunately, though, Bill and Stan had come down with a cold and had to stay home. It was just him and Richie, but  honestly , that wasn’t bad. He liked spending alone time with Richie.

Eddie wasn’t the brightest, but he wasn’t dumb. He knew what a crush was, and he knew what he was feeling toward Richie was just that. The kid was cute, and he felt happy around him! That was more than enough to convince him this was serious. 

As the  two bound outside in the crowd of screaming children, Eddie looks around excitedly at the playground equipment. He was so ready to play like the other kids! He was about to ask Richie what they were going to play when his hand was grabbed and Richie started pulling him off to the side. “uh? Rich?”

“common, I  wanna talk to you over here,” Richie spoke with a wide grin as he  led Eddie to the side of the playground no one else was at.

Eddie was confused, but followed anyway, looking around when they stopped. “why are we here?”

“ I wanted to be alone so I can, um ....tell you that I, uh.....” he shrugged, burying his hands in his pockets. “ I think you’re c-cute.”

Eddie grinned wide. Richie thought he was cute!? What were the odds!? This was perfect! “oh! I think you’re cute, too!” 

“wait, r-really?” Richie blushed. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but that was very easy. 

“ mmhm !” Eddie nodded vigorously.

“oh! Cool! Well, um...... I guess....” he dug in his pocket, pulling out a ring pop still in the wrapper. “ wanna be married, then?” 

“sure!” Eddie bounced a bit, taking the ring pop and unwrapping it, putting it on his finger and holding it out to look at it. “oh, it’s beautiful, Richie! I love it!” Richie and Eddie both laughed and eventually, made their way back to the playground where they swung on the swings and shared the ring pop engagement ring. 

The boys didn’t really treat each other any differently from that point. They occasionally held hands, but they still acted as friends. They were only five, after all, and really didn’t know how a relationship worked. 

As the years go by, the harshness of the real world kicked in, and the two never really mentioned their kindergarten engagement again. They just mutually accepted that they were just little kids being little kids and nothing more. There was no way those 5-year-old feelings could be real, right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this was so short. I should have just made this one a long one shot, but I panicked when the main fic hit 10,000 and posted what I had done, not yet realizing I was like 1,000 words from finishing. :l I hope you like it, regardless!


End file.
